Newsletter July 2021
Emerging from lock-down edition
As we go into print, we are expecting many lockdown restrictions to be lifted on 19th July 2021, sixteen months after they were first imposed. It has been a difficult and isolating time for many and we hope you have fared well enough. With the reassurance of the double vaccination, we are looking forward to meeting up again as a society very soon.
During lockdown restrictions your committee have met regularly by zoom and lately in members’ gardens and we have an exciting programme of events and news to share with you.
Our AGM on Tuesday 21st September will be our first live event at the airy and spacious Colwall Village Hall. In order to streamline the necessary business, reports will be sent out by email/post in advance of the meeting and the main focus of the evening will be a talk by artist Brian Gorst. Some of you may have heard Brian’s excellent talk ‘An Artist’s Appreciation’ on Youtube during lockdown which he prepared for our members. Brian has kindly agreed to appear in person and in his own engaging and inimitable style to elaborate further on a number of stylistic and thematic characteristics that make Laura Knight’s work so important, unique and inspirational. We hope you are able to join us.
For further details of forthcoming events, see page 3.
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Wind back 56 years to July 1965……
Laura Knight was in the news in July 1965 when she made history by being the first woman to hold a solo exhibition at the Royal Academy. It was a major retrospective with 260 pieces exhibited.
In the introduction to the exhibition catalogue, Laura’s fellow senior Royal Academician Sir William Russell Flint writes: ‘No artist could be more delightful to write about than Dame Laura Knight. The only difficulty lies in expressing appreciation and affection well enough. On this occasion there will be no stint of either.’
Laura was clearly riding on the crest of a wave of success. On the 9th August The Times reported an interview with her in her studio and she was described as ‘a woman with bright blue eyes, gentle manners and the enthusiasms of a child’. Not a bad report for an 88 year old!
Dame Laura Knight in conversation with Sir Charles Wheeler, President of the Academy, on the occasion of the private view of her major retrospective exhibition. 16th July 1965
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FUTURE EVENTS
21st September 2021 Colwall Village Hall 6.45pm SHORT AGM followed by TALK by Brian Gorst. ‘Laura Knight: An Artist’s Appreciation’. Refreshments. Free entry.
9th October – 20th February 2022 Exhibition at Milton Keynes Gallery. Largest exhibition of Dame Laura Knight’s work for 50 years.
15th – 24th October 2021 Exhibition of reproductions of Laura Knight’s work. Brave Fine Art. Belle Vue Terrace, Malvern. Another chance to view the wonderful prints which were on display last year along Church Walk. Free entry.
6th November 2021 Talk by Brendan Flynn ‘The Call of the Wild’. Colwall Village Hall 3pm Refreshments Tickets tel: 07792 154436 or on door £5 members £10 non- members. Please pre-book if you can. Brian was Curator of Fine Art at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. He will talk about the origins of the Newlyn Colony and the important contribution made by ‘The Birmingham Boys’.
And looking ahead……
Late January 2022 (date tbc) VISIT to Milton Keynes Gallery to the DLK exhibition
April/May 2022 TALK by Frances Spalding – details tbc
July 2022 Social event
More details of the above in our next newsletter in December 2021
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Catherine Wallace on ‘Laura Knight’s Models’ March 2021
Maybe it was a happy irony that the talk in which the focus was not on Laura Knight but on the collection of beautiful people surrounding her; friends who became models, models who became friends, characters drawn to Laura by her dynamic approach to her art, and Laura, fascinated by almost any colourful person who came within her orbit and drawn as if by a magnet towards them to capture them with her palette, gave an extra insight into the artist herself.
The speaker gave us potted biographical details of the many people who came into Laura Knight’s orbit, fleshing them out with information which encouraged a wider view of the characters whose names have become familiar to all who have followed the artist’s career. We heard how the village children of Staithes – a place of early frugal days for both the Knights -were happy to model for a penny, or a sweetie, or a piece of fruit. These children were cheap, readily
available models and posing offered, perhaps, a brief warm haven from the rigours of an impoverished life and a modest reward from, at that time, an almost equally poor artist but one generous with her time and her money. It is interesting to compare ‘Dressing the Children’ with ‘Flying a Kite’. The subjects of the first, beautifully posed in a small domestic scene, are static. It suggests that the artist was deeply moved by the hardships which she encountered. Laura herself writes with great emotion about the circumstances of these villagers and subconsciously records the claustrophobia of their plight with the sombre tones and the angles of the limbs and head of all the characters. Compare those models with the rosy cheeked, gaily dressed group of the second. ‘Bright and breezy, free and easy’, with extravagant gestures in sunlit pastures. It is clear that both artist and models feel free to enjoy the warmth of the South. Maybe much over-sentimentalised, but a clear illustration of the artist’s hyper-sensitivity to any dramatic moment; of heat and light, whether natural or man-made. Driven, perhaps, by her emotional response, which may have played a part in her changing styles, her obsession with staged events and her ambition to equal any skill or craft she admired, Laura underwent a sea-change when she went to Cornwall. Her work and her life-style reflected the freedom it gave her.
Phyllis Vipond-Crocker was an early member of a coterie of beautiful people who were gathered to this coastal Eden. She had a stunning beauty, in high demand to several famous painters of the time. She led a colourful life which matched her colourful appearance. Laura delighted in it, in both words and paint. The model’s insouciant air, the devil-may-care effect of the blue stockings and the silver buckles on her shoes, featuring in more than one painting, the whole crowned by a boyish crop which captured the painter’s imagination, made it clear that this was a favourite sitter; the sentiment established by the excellent pencil sketch by Laura at the start of their acquaintance. Phyllis went on to marry a Russian, moved to London, assisted her husband in an antiquarian book-shop and led a Bohemian life until her suicide in 1938. By this time the styles, both of life and painting were moving on to a different era, led by the Bloomsbury set… Fry, Grant, Bell – with their own chaos and creativity. And how Laura, with her irrepressible vitality, would have revelled in all of that.
Ella Naper, the speaker told us, was a very active member of this group. She and Phyllis worked together. Both had been trained at Art School and collaborated, making jewellery, using various techniques, such as enamelling and designing and making decorative silverware. Laura Knight admired this work and was shown some of the techniques required, then producing work of her own. Ella it was who modelled for the iconic ‘Self-Portrait’ painted in 1913. Her husband Charles had built a hut on Bodmin moor and the Knights and the Napers spent time there, lazing in the sun, painting, enjoying the nudity, swimming and painting, that the privacy allowed them. Ella had trained at the Camberwell School of Art, and enjoying life en plein air, posed for both Laura and Harold.
Dolly Snell. Already a ballet dancer, actor and model when she and Laura met. The two became firm friends and Laura insisted that Dolly teach her ballet steps. Dolly it was who modelled for the ‘The Green Feather’, wearing a dress which Laura had had made for herself, a black jacket and a large hat with a sweeping feather. This portrait, capturing the theatrical drama of the pose and the costumes, was widely regarded as one of Laura’s most accomplished works. With her energy and determination, the whole work was completed in a day – the sky being altered as the light changed. It was a huge success, thanks in part to the stoicism of Dolly, and was bought by the National Gallery of Canada in 1912.
Dolly Henry. Before meeting Laura, Dolly had modelled in London and worked for sometime at the Slade School of Art. She had long red hair, a feature made much of by the artist and high-lighted in later sitters who had been endowed with these long tresses. Poor Dolly had a short life. She fled to the safety of Cornwall to escape an abusive husband, met Laura who engaged her on the spot and she appears in a portrait named ‘Mallows’. When she returned to London, she was shot by her husband, who then killed himself.
Florence Carter Wood. Again, a rather brief report from our speaker, matching the tragically short life of the model. Florence was wooed by Alfred Munnings, and they married in 1912. Florence tried, and failed, to commit suicide on her wedding night. However, within two years, her second try was successful.
Dame Eileen Mayo. Already a celebrated artist in her own right shared a friendship with Laura which lasted for many years. She was in great demand as a model; her many talents included design, printmaking and illustration. She taught at The Slade, particularly wood and lino cutting. She posed for Laura several times. ‘Blue and Gold’, an acclaimed portrait features Eileen’s sculptural smooth flesh and her equally smooth hair. This portrait was mocked up for a newsreel made by Pathe to mark Laura’s becoming an Associate Member of the Royal Academy. Eileen later went to Australia where she taught and later joined her family, mother and sister in New Zealand.
Three men were singled out as models: Lamorna Birch, with a relaxed and friendly manner became a friend and a mentor. In one of her autobiographies, Laura describes him in detail: his smooth skin, his slender beard, his rough tweed jacket and his stockings which showed off his splendid calves. Clearly, she liked him.
Barry Jackson – we were shown a sketch but his influence on the character and the work of Laura Knight was huge. It was he who introduced her to the theatre, to Malvern and to many future commissions. One of these was George Bernard Shaw and we saw a portrait of a highly self-satisfied man practising his twinkly persona on Laura and dominating the conversation. I daresay she dealt with him with the same vigour that he himself practised.
From 1919 onwards the Knights maintained a studio in Lamorna but spent some months of the year in London where they became keen theatre-goers. This is how Laura first saw Anna Pavlova, she of ‘The Dying Swan’, a role created for her by Fokine, with whom she trained. Laura was entranced by her skill and painted her many times, fascinated by her Slavic features and brilliant technique. ‘I never missed a show, she held me in such a degree’ – she wrote. Tamara Karsavina, who was born in St.Petersburg and trained at the Imperial Ballet School, danced often with Nijinski and created roles with Fokine. One of these was ‘The Firebird’ and Laura captured in paint the passion and the drama of the dance. Two more prima ballerinas, Olga Spessiva and Lydia Lopokova, sat for Laura. Lydia criticised the artist’s rendering of one pose and invited her to work, over a period of time, in her dressing room. She appears in many successful ‘behind the scenes’ paintings.
The world of theatre also claimed Laura Knight. Largely through her friendship with Barry Jackson, Laura had access to the wings of many famous theatres and their inhabitants. She attended rehearsals and performances and became acquainted, and painted, many of the famous of the time, John Gielgud, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies amongst others. We were shown many images of these two, including Geilgud in Macbeth and as Romeo, and Gwen in several roles, including Juliet and in ‘The Barratts of Wimpole Street’ As before, the costumes intrigued Laura and she took a hand in designing one.
Lights, bright colours, costumes and the drama of any kind of performance drew Laura to the world of the circus. She became obsessed with the artistes and spent more than a year travelling with them. Living in, often rather sleazy, accommodation and in sometimes quite hazardous places, she sketched a hundred circus folk. Clowns were her favourite subjects; Whimsical Walker visited her studio and sat for her many times, becoming a close companion and a friend together with Joe and Ally Bert. Horses, elephants, ponies, trapeze artists all make up the gathering of performers who appear in Charivari – a concoction of characters she had known and admired. This huge canvas had a very mixed reception and, when Laura saw her collection of circus work in a gallery agreed that it was too many. Harold called her ‘circus crazy. You are not a performer’. How wrong he was.
The gypsies had the same strong draw for Laura Knight. Mostly based in Iver, they were another motley crew, the ethnic clothing, and the restless vagabond life all appealed to her lively curiosity. She painted the rough and tumble of their camps, their hop-picking gatherings and their fairground roles. Two unnamed models appear in ‘Ascot Finery’ in 1936 and two years later ‘Grannie Smith’. This old lady intrigued Laura – she painted her at least twice more, showing off her clothes ‘Ascot Finery’ and then a part interior of her caravan. Her son Gildroy Smith, painted in 1939, now, we were told, in The Tate, and his wife Beulah, another model who Laura befriended and again, the long hair of the sitter a feature of the three portraits we were shown.
The last colourful character was Ruby Loftus. Ruby was a young conscript in the Royal Ordnance Factory in Newport, working on a lathe turning a breech ring. This was highly specialised work and Ruby was admired for her skill. Laura worked very hard for almost three weeks, sketching then painting and again, enjoying the exciting surroundings and the colourful clothing of her model. They became firm friends; Ruby was invited to the R.A. when the painting was hung then enjoyed a cocktail party at the Ritz. Laura gave her a portrait for a wedding present, they stayed in touch and, on her return from Canada, met again. There is a photograph, taken at the Imperial War Museum in 1962, of both artist and sitter standing in front of the picture smiling at each other.
Such a happy image to take away from this informative, engaging and wonderfully kaleidoscopic talk by our speaker Catherine Wallace.
Gwyn Klee
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Countess Varvara Golovin by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Barber Institute, Birmingham
One of the paintings in the Barber collection stands out particularly for me; the portrait of a Russian countess by a French artist. The Friends of Dame Laura Knight Society’s visit to the Barber Institute was postponed in 2020, but when we rearrange our visit, I thought it might be useful to highlight the importance of this work.
ElisabethVigée Le Brun, (of whom more below), painted Countess Varvara Golovin between 1797 and 1800 while Elisabeth was living in Russia, essentially because she was persona non grata in her home country of France, due to having been an artist who painted, and was associated with, aristocrats in the court of Louis XVI.
This work shows the influence of the neo classical, (Vigée Le Brun’s contemporary and countryman, Jacques Louis David being an important source of this new approach). Varvara Golovin is unaccompanied by any rococo embellishments: lace, hats, important and expensive possessions etc; she is portrayed in an octagonal frame, (which concentrates our attention), and the pose is dramatic, intimate, and like many Vigée Le Brun portraits, very engaging. The sitter contributed to the sessions: “Her wit and talent were sufficient to keep us entertained” observed Vigée Le Brun; this was no vacuous deb.
The setting, although sparse, indicates her position in space, with the light cutting diagonally across the background, setting up a line of direction, (emphasized by Golovin’s tangle of hair which follows the shaft of light), and which is countered by the swing of the arm back towards the origin of the light. The angle of her elbow steadies these opposing stresses and helps us to register the full force of her gaze. The only piece of diversion is the embroidery on the edge of her shawl and on her wrist. No indications of the sitter’s interests or status are included in the work; she is who she is, and in that sense this is also an Enlightenment painting; the individual as sole subject.
Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun was born in 1755 and died in 1842. She was the daughter of a painter, and as Germaine Greer has pointed out in The Obstacle Race, daughters of painters often ended up as professional, (albeit often unacknowledged), painters. What marks her out is her willingness to embark on a career independent of male support. Vigée Le Brun was a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture at 19, (a membership abolished – as were all female Academicians – following the revolution), married at 21 to a painter/art dealer, had one child, a daughter, and was fully occupied in painting the leaders of society and the court – she painted a magnificent group portrait, for instance, of Marie Antoinette and her children. She did not neglect herself as a subject; her self-portraits, (often a kind of artistic advertisement), are delightful and technically confident, Elisabeth wearing clothes which make no concessions to the demands of a messy paint-covered palette, but contributing immensely to the attractiveness of the subject.
Her work up to this point was no recommendation to the likes of Robespierre et al, and in 1789 she fled France with her daughter and governess, leaving her commercially exploitative husband behind in France. (She and her husband were well known for their salon, attracting the great, the witty and the wealthy, and Elisabeth had attracted much snide criticism for her position as a female painter, and libellous suggestions that she conducted affairs with her male sitters). She worked in Italy, Austria, Russia and then Germany. The Golovin portrait was completed during her time in St Petersburg, and while she did not manage to paint Catherine the Great, (owing to the latter’s sudden stroke), she had plenty of commissions in that city, and the other countries she lived in.
In 1802 her name was removed from the official list of counter-emigrés and she returned to France, where her husband had been forced to divorce her, due to a threat by the authorities of having his and her property confiscated. Subsequently she visited London and Switzerland, retiring eventually to Louveciennes, where she died and is buried.
She impresses me with her disciplined approach to her work, her independence, and her unwavering belief in herself as a professional artist, quite apart from the charm and delight of her portraits. Like male professional artists, she thought of herself as one, and had all the drive and competence to succeed. Her: ‘Points that should be observed before you begin to paint’ reveal something of her rigorous down-to-earthiness: ‘you should always be ready half an hour before the model arrives. This helps to gather your thoughts and is essential for several reasons:
- You should never keep anyone waiting
- Your palette must be prepared
- People or business should not interfere with your concentration’
She was unsentimental in negotiating high fees for her commissions, appears to have been liked by many people – her social circle was wide, cultured, even glittering – and seems to have been unassociated with any scandal; her work came first, and she was aided in this attitude by a full time governess and companion for her child – an essential for a successful career of a female artist with offspring.
She is not an artist who is particularly well known outside specialist art history; (the first retrospective exhibition of her work was held in 1982 in Texas and a major show in Paris only in 2015), but, like all the best portraitists, she delivered the goods. As a sitter one would have been confident of being portrayed at one’s best, by a consummate technician, sure of her talents.
Further Reading: Vigée Le Brun wrote a very interesting and observant memoir starting with her career in Paris and continuing to her retirement: The Memoirs of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Camden Press 1989, translated by Siân Evans.
A beautifully illustrated edition of many of her works, published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2016, ISBN: 978-1-58839-581-8
Diana Stockford
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Review of Exhibition ‘Dame Laura Knight: A Celebration’
Allez Oop! Aka The Finishing Horse 1954 Dame Laura Knight
What better way to celebrate the easing of lockdown than in the company of Laura Knight with an exhibition aptly named: Laura Knight: A Celebration
Penlee House Gallery, Penzance , have excelled in their exhibition collection of paintings, etchings, lithographs and porcelain.
It begins with Laura Knight’s early years in Nottingham. Ironically, the very first exhibit is not by Laura but by her husband, Harold. His portrait of the fourteen year old girl and fellow student at Nottingham School of Art shows Laura’s strength and determination even at this tender age. Laura’s early work includes a couple of portraits in charcoal, sensitively drawn demonstrating an affinity to sympathise and connect with her models.
The exhibition then takes us on to her time in Staithes where she struggled to find ways of expressing herself. The bleak oil painting of ‘Fisherfolk Baiting Lines on the Cobbles’ contrasts with the delicate watercolour of ‘The Knitting Lesson’. This period includes three extended visits to Laren in Holland and the exhibition shows rare examples of her work from this equally muted and agricultural landscape.
The next phase of Laura’s career began in 1907 with a move to Cornwall and the exhibition captures the change of mood perfectly with ‘At the Edge of the Cliff’ 1917 painted at Lamorna Cove. The sudden explosion of light and colour characterises Laura’s work for the next twelve years.
Moving on to Gallery 2 there is a feeling that Laura Knight reaches maturity in style, composition and technique with a collection of her portraits. Hanging side by side are Eileen Mayo and Ethel Bartlett (painted 1926, 1927 respectively) portrayed as confident, successful women, perhaps much as Knight herself was feeling at this time. Examples of Laura Knight’s etching and drypoint includes the beautiful ‘Gilding the Lily’ and ‘Make Up’, taking the viewer seamlessly on from portraits to theatre and performance in Gallery 3.
Pride of place and strongly lit on the end wall is ‘Allez Oop! Aka The Finishing Horse’ 1954. With a full gallery length viewpoint, it is perfectly hung, and it adds a touch of drama to the exhibition.
Dramatic in a different way are examples of Laura Knight’s lithographs. Although simple in composition and with a limited colour palette they were used to produce striking posters such as London Transport’s ‘Rugby at Twickenham’ poster 1921. I think Laura would be rather surprised to discover this simple four colour design is one of the most popular underground posters of all time!
In Gallery 4 are some of Laura Knight’s most popular and well known works. Dominating the end wall is ‘The Dock, Nuremberg’ 1946 – an absolute masterpiece and vital record of WW2 history, as is ‘Ruby Loftus screwing a Breech Ring’ 1943.
Finishing the exhibition are Laura’s landscapes in and around Malvern. Three agricultural scenes (including the rarely displayed ‘Walter and Fred Bishop Loading Corn’ c.1939) and ‘Storm Over our Town’1935-51, which has all the drama of a grand finale.
In short, this exhibition showcases some of Laura Knight’s best works, such as her portraits of Ethel Bartlett and Eileen Mayo, but also includes some rarely seen paintings from private collections. Penlee House has produced an excellent leaflet with details of each painting and some biographical notes, useful to anyone new to Laura Knight’s work. There is a lavishly illustrated companion guidebook accompanying the exhibition ‘Laura Knight : A Celebration’ but note there are more works discussed in the book than displayed at Penlee as this is a relatively modest exhibition of 48 hung pieces. Additionally, there are two glass cases showing smaller pieces such as etchings, ceramics and enamel work. Perhaps the most memorable item in the display case is the selection from the ‘Circus’ dinner service (as part of the ‘Bizarre’ range by Clarice Cliff) – memorable because there was a certain element of Laura’s impishness in the circus designs.
This exhibition is well worth a visit and runs until 16th September 2021.
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Susan Edwards is ‘Inspired by Local Heroes’
Ed. Society member and artist, Susan Edwards, explains how the work of Laura Knight has inspired her own work.
Feast after Lock Down famine!
I have just visited ‘A Celebration’ An exhibition of the work of Dame Laura Knight, at The Penlee Gallery, Penzance, and everything in it reminds me why I have been inspired by her work all my life!
First it is her technical ability: thrilling colour applied with a broad brush; vigorous draughtsmanship; a command of composition, and an ability to work in any medium. So much to interest and challenge!
Then there is her eye for dramatic subject matter, whether it is a stunning sunset, characters or performers.
Ultimately though, what grabs me is the speed and intensity of her observation. A scrutiny which can only be attained in front of your subject, and needs to be got down onto the canvas before the light changes. I mean of course, working en plein air.
Both Dame Laura and I grew up in households surrounded by fabrics. Her mother and grandmother were in the rag trade as mine were. My grandmother was a Leeds tailoress, skilled in making coats, suits, dresses. My mother owned a dress shop. Laura designed and made her own clothes for many years, and so did I. She knew exactly how to paint the drape and sheen of a delicious silk gown.
NB Following works by Dame Laura are prefixed DLK, while mine are SE
| SE: Portrait of Lady Katie Townsend Rose, oil on linen, size 102 x 153cm |
| DLK: The Green Feather, 1912, Oil on canvas, 214.7 x 153.5cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa |
Like Dame Laura I love drawing and painting dancers, movement, theatre… Art is itself a performance of sorts, one step from reality, and thrives on interpretation and imagination.
| DLK: Make Up, 1925, Etching and Drypoint, 25.4 x 20cm, from a private collection lent to The Penlee House Gallery for ‘A Celebration’ |
| SE: Lara making up, Oil on linen, size 46 x 51cm |
I saw her ‘Two O’gusts and Two Lions’ at the Laing Gallery in Newcastle. The electricity of her line crackles through the drawing just as described in her autobiography ‘The Magic of a Line’. Inspired by her circus and fairground paintings I took a group of undergraduate BA students to paint The Hoppins on Newcastle Town Moor, and was invited to sketch a trapeze artist rehearsing, which resulted in a hand coloured lithographic print.
| DLK: Two O’gusts and Two Lions, 1930, Watercolour, Imperial sheet, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle |
| SE: Circus Acrobat, 6 colour lithograph, size 41 x 55cm. |
I retired early from teaching, and hastened down to Lamorna, Sennen and St Ives, and discovered the sea really was the rainbow of colour she had painted it.
| SE: Evening Fills The Golden Bowl, Lamorna, Oil on canvas, size 31 x 41 cm. |
| DLK: Lamorna Cove, Oil on canvas, Size 97.8 x 137.8 cm. |
Decades later, when I came to live in Hereford, Dame Laura inspired me anew, re-discovering her connection with the landscape and rural life of the region. One of my ‘Spirit in the Malverns’ paintings was selected for the New English Art Club Exhibition 2020
| SE: The Spirit in The Malverns 1, Oil on linen, size 41 x 71 cm. |
| DLK: Autumn Sunset, Oil on Canvas, Size 63.5 x 76cm, Private Collection. |
Exhibition ‘Inspired by Local Heroes’ by artist Susan Edwards MA FRSA
1 – 29 September at Hereford Art Gallery Free admission
For more information contact Susan on: 07531521721 susanedwardspaintings.com
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Art Historian, author and lecturer, Catherine Wallace, has news of her forthcoming workshops and lectures.
Course on ‘The First Colony: St. Ives artists 1890 -1949’ http://www.cathwallace.co.uk/
Either in person at Truro Library or by zoom
Thursdays 9 September – 21 October at Truro Library 10.30 – 12.30pm
And Tuesdays 14 September – 26 October 10.30 – 12.30pm on Zoom/YouTube
Cost £140 for 7 weeks or £20 a session
Contact Catherine directly for more details or booking
email : catherinewallace2@icloud.com
Also, Catherine is running a Laura Knight Study Day on Thursday 2nd September 2021 in Truro Library. Details are on her website.
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It’s always interesting to keep an eye on the art market and see what is happening to sales.
In a recent sale at Christies, The B.J. Eastwood Collection: Important Sporting and Irish Pictures sold for record prices. Work by A.J.Munnings, for instance, exceeded estimate prices quite considerably.
Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A., R.W.S. (1878-1959)
Norwich Flower Market
Price realised GBP 218,750
Estimate
GBP 50,000 – GBP 80,000
Closed 9th July 2021
Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A., R.W.S. (1878-1959)
The Vagabonds
Price realised GBP 1,942,500
Estimate
GBP 700,000 – GBP 1,000,000
Closed: 9 Jul 2021
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And finally, some sad news.
Tribute to Stan Little
Stan has been a member of the DLKS and committee member since 2015.
It is with great sadness that I have to tell you Stan died at home on 30th April 2021 after several months of ill health.
Stan and I joined the DLKS committee at the same time in 2015 and worked together on several projects – one was the society visit to the Royal West of England Academy (which some of you may remember) to view the Artist Couples exhibition in 2019. Another was the Pimms in the Park event in 2017 (when it rained!)
Stan was a special person and had that rare quality of being interested in listening to people rather than telling them what he knew. That is not to say Stan was retiring – in fact, far from it. Many of you will remember Stan at society meetings, mingling and chatting to members with great ease, and at the end of a talk, Stan was invariably first up with his hand to ask a question. This is typical of Stan’s natural curiosity and interest in Art.
We shall remember his warm heart, friendship, artistic skills and intelligent conversation.
Stan Little, talented architect and lover of historical buildings, was great company and he will be much missed.
Evie Knight May 2021
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So here we are mid-summer, at last able to socialise, and we do hope you will be able to join your friends in the society for meetings very soon.
Have a wonderful summer. Stay safe and well. See you at the AGM and talk on 21st September at Colwall Village Hall.
Best wishes Evie Knight Chair DLKS